Throughout the history of washing machines, companies have come up with catchy slogans to advertise their product as the best. Of course, they have been geared toward women, and sadly, I still follow that stereotype. It’s partly because my husband is unable to understand the concept of separating clothes, but also because my clothes from work are very hard to wash. To get him to do it correctly, it really would take an instruction manual. It literally is a pile of crap, a pile of crap, and placenta, and fluids, and blood. The list goes on and on. This is partly a vent session on how much I hate doing my laundry and partly an instruction manual in case he gets the urge to do it correctly. It’s common knowledge in our office that I tend to get dirtier than everyone else in the clinic. I like to think it's because I work much harder. The reality is, as a female, I'm shorter, so my center of gravity is a little different. I also have shorter arms, which means when I'm behind a cow, I usually have to get closer to them. Omer, one of our vet techs, has said before, "If there's one cow pie in a field, you're going to find it and roll in it." This just creates more laundry problems. Angie, another vet tech at the clinic, also agreed with Omer that I am the messiest. She really hates it when she gets coveralls out of the laundry bin and they are covered in cow poop. I’ve even seen her wear exam gloves before handling our clothes, which is probably a good policy. When I asked her if I was the worst, she agreed happily, like it wasn’t that big of a deal, but she does a lot of the clinic’s laundry, and her eyes said more like, “I’d love my job if it wasn’t for the crap you roll in. I need a raise.” Maybe I’ll purchase a super-duty, hospital grade washer for the clinic to make her life easier. Nah, I’ll just get her some Oxyclean and a scrub brush as a bonus this year. I’m really trying to perfect the art of washing my clothes at home, which is taking an awful lot of experimenting. If I could get Heloise to come to my house and help me with the laundry, she’d pull in the drive and tell me to burn it down and start over, but that’s another story. I’ve found that soaking in warm water works best for that tricky mixture of placenta and amniotic fluid. They are oil-based (in case that comes up on Jeopardy) and need warm water to lift it from the fabric, but then I’m faced with the all too common problem that placenta and amniotic fluid are frequently accompanied by blood, which needs to soak in cold water. What is a girl to do?! Multiple tries, lots of extra space for clothes that are getting different treatments, and a little liquid Oxyclean to get the blood stains that are already soaked in or even dried. It’s a process. This is only my second blog, really my first that I’m writing, so I’ll just let it all out there so you know what you’re in for if you are going to be an avid follower. If you think my undergarments are TMI, move on to the next paragraph. Bras are a problem for 95% of women (the other 5% just don’t wear one), so it’s no surprise that vets have to test out their normal bras. I used to wear normal bras like a professional. I learned quickly that cheap sports bras from Target are the best option because during a nasty OB, it soaks all the way through. I also keep a spare sports bra (along with four extra uniforms) at the clinic. Nothing is worse than walking around with a wet bra all day, and I’m not entirely sure that soaking a regular bra got all the fluids out, and my husband was tired of smelling my bras for me to check for cleanliness. If you skipped the last paragraph, your loss. If you didn’t, consider yourself a creeper. Now on to the next laundry conundrum. A problem that looks like it would be a serious laundry issue, but actually is fairly easy to remove, are the remains of rotten calf or retained placenta. The real problem is getting rid of the disgusting smell. If you ever have to ride in my truck after a day of this, you probably will want to pack a gas mask and some Febreeze. That smell attaches itself to my skin and hair. I've found washing my hands with toothpaste works well. For those lovely pet owners who like to buy me a Christmas gift as a thank you for a year’s worth of top notch service, a basket of wine and toothpaste will be very useful. One problem I’m still working on is how to get the really tough cow poop out. The worst is when cows are just getting on fresh spring grass. Not only is their stool loose, projectile, and gets everywhere, but it's really hard to get out of clothes. Basically, I scrub and soak, scrub and soak, and definitely keep it from coming in contact with my other clothes. Like Omer says, if there’s one cow pie around, I’ll find it. I think this is why I love my dog so much. We are one in the same. I secretly enjoy rolling in cow poop. It makes the transition to Sassy, Off Call/Work Jessica so much more magical. You can probably imagine how much my husband appreciates seeing dressed up Jessica instead of normal Dr. Stroupe in her cow poop or fluid smelling clothing or his stinky running partner/wife in my sweat-drenched athletic outfits. From a distance I always look good. It’s when you get close that the smell starts to overtake you. For as much as he appreciates seeing me dressed up, he doesn’t kindly treat my dressy clothes. He refuses to sort anything. I put the most heavily soiled stuff from a farm call directly in the washer, but if I’m not watching, he’ll put whites, delicates, farm clothing, his tree trimming clothing, and formal wear/dress clothes all in the same load. If he ruins something, it only gives me an excuse to buy something new, so I also secretly look away at times if I feel the itch to get a new dress for my new heels. After eight years of marriage, I finally broke down and bought a high efficiency front loading washer. The thing is huge. It also has a steam treatment setting, which helps with more soiled clothing, so that has cut down on the process of laundry in my house. Being a veterinarian, having a husband that's a residential tree trimmer, and us being both runners, I probably easily do at least two to three loads of laundry a day. We don't even have kids yet, so I shudder to think what it will be like when that happens. If you enjoy doing laundry, this is the time to promote your services. Someone could make a living just folding my never-ending pile of laundry. With my busy work schedule and the fact that I hate folding laundry, the laundry usually only gets folded about once a week. I think this is a common problem in any household, but other people have the means and space to hide it. My house isn’t that big. The rest of the week, it gets put on a couch in our bedroom that we rarely use and you just have to stir the pile to find things. The other challenge with this is if the laundry doesn't get folded, both the dog and cat love to lay on it, which of course results in fur getting all over our clothes. That’s fine and dandy for my work clothes, but spending date night lint rolling each other really isn’t all that sexy. If you have any tips for my laundry, please feel free to send me a comment. I’d appreciate it. I think I should use all this time that I experiment with different products on my clothes to actually create my own product to get rid of serious stains (like cow poop). There’s Dreft for baby stains, which I’ve heard is fantastic, but have no experience with. Maybe I’ll call mine Bereft because if it’s strong enough to get out cow poop, you’re also going to lose some color as well. I guess that’s bleach, so someone beat me to the punch.
6 Comments
Jill Chandler
12/6/2015 05:09:54 pm
One, thing about you that I'm certain your patients' owners appreciate is that you go all the way, you're not above the stink, mess. sludge, poop, and whatever else is part of the job, and you're into it until the job is done and right.
Reply
Jessica Stroupe
12/6/2015 05:21:47 pm
Thank you, Jill!
Reply
Andria St. Clair
12/6/2015 06:09:16 pm
Fels-Naptha rubbed onto a rinsed off cow poop stain works pretty darn well. Then wash on hot with shavings of the Fels-Naptha and Oxyclean. Works every time for me! Cow poop also comes out of fleece waaay easier than any other fabric!
Reply
Jessica Stroupe
12/7/2015 07:30:42 am
Thanks for the tips, Andria! I'll have to the give the Fels-Naptha a try. Can you get it anywhere?
Reply
Diane Graham-Henry
12/8/2015 09:08:55 am
Have you tried meat tenderizer? Used to be a great solution for blood, etc. My dad was a heart surgeon and would come home with bloody underclothes. My mother found that meat tenderizer broke it down and "voila!." gone.
KtGirl
12/29/2015 09:42:39 pm
I too loathe folding and hanging laundry! I've found the ONLY way it gets done in my home is never letting it go from dryer to basket/pile on the couch. I've found by taking the empty hangers from our closets to the laundry room when I gather the dirty from our baskets, or where my hubby and daughter peeled out of them, keeps the daunting task done. Straight from dryer to hanger also cuts down on iron time! Ironing, in my opinion, is for the birds! LOL! Although a bit less efficient, smaller loads equal smaller doses of folding/hanging torture. That's all I've got in laundry advice. When it comes to stain removal I'm clueless. I'm lucky notice one before I set it in with the dryer!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Jessica Stroupe, DVM
Archives
August 2017
|